If you really want to move to the latest tech, 4K is where things are heading. Kinda ridiculous seeing how there is very little 4K source material, but I suppose that will be coming eventually. I’m still not getting why the vast majority of HT’s would benefit from 4K though. 1080P is still amazing to me and every time I watch a BD movie that has been mastered well, I find it difficult to believe that the picture could get any crisper. (And I sit 12’ away from a screen that’s 8’ wide). So for me, I have absolutely no desire to “upgrade” the video. As far as sound goes, I just jumped on the trade up deal with Axiom. Moved from some M60’s to M80’s. I did not buy them with the HP drivers either. I suppose the M100’s probably do sound better, but I certainly do not feel as if the M80’s are lacking. The best move I’ve made is the new 500’s. There’s something about the sealed design that I prefer. There’s enough of a difference that I do not feel as if I wasted money moving to them. I tried the 3D thing, and I hate it. Ya it’s kinda neat to get more depth and realism, but the trade-offs for that are not worth it to me. Ghosting, darker picture, and having to wear those stupid glasses make it a waste of money to me. I also tried height channels and width channels. Again, not worth it. If I had a huge HT room, where I could actually set the width channels speakers about 10’s away from the mains, I can imagine that would sound pretty cool. In a smaller room like mine though, they are nothing but a distraction.
If there was one thing I would suggest you do Mark, that would be to get your but back into your woodshop. Just go make something, anything! I find working with wood to be very soothing and a great distraction from the little irritations that life throws at me.
